good kid, m.A.A.d city- Where is Hip-Hop Now?

Following the release of his much acclaimed debut album, Section.80 (2011), there was a lot of hype surrounding Kendrick Lamar’s official major label debut, 2012’s Good Kid, Maad City (stylized as good kid, m.A.A.d city). For those that don’t know, Kendrick is a fresh face from Compton who many are claiming is bringing the West Coast back. With acts like Odd Future, Lil B, and the rest of Kendrick’s Black Hippy crew, it can hardly be said that Kendrick is the only one from the West getting any love. However, he may just be the most respected. His hard-hitting beats and fun songs make him popular with the mainstream crowd, while his lyrical ability and deeper content make him revered by the “real hip-hop heads”. Kendrick has consistently rejected the opinion that he is a “conscious rapper”, claiming instead that he just raps about what he saw growing up and does not aim to sound preachy. The album good kid, m.A.A.d city seeks to further that claim.

Before going into it, you might want to be aware that good kid, m.A.A.d city is a concept album. On the cover it is described as “a short film by Kendrick Lamar”—which is true in a way because it follows a narrative, although nonlinear. Through his songs and some skits, Kendrick is telling the story of a young black boy (based on a teenage version of himself) who gets into trouble because of the people and the city he’s surrounded by. Its gritty and descriptive nature when presenting the events that occur in the inner city has drawn comparisons to Nas’s classic debut Illmatic. Similarly, Kendrick himself has been compared to Nas because of his ability to speak critically about violence in the inner city while not attempting to feign distance from the mentality or to point fingers.

The album begins with “Sherane a.k.a. Master Splinter’s Daughter” which tells the story of a girl he met and was trying to pursue. Before the song actually starts, we hear several different voices engaged in a prayer; this will be a motif of the album. By the end of the song we learn that Sherane had bad intentions for seducing our hero. But we are left at a cliffhanger because the narration ends there. The song ends with a voicemail from the protagonist’s mother and father (another motif) which brings us into the central story. It is here that we learn that the story is being told from the perspective of a teenager named Kendrick who has borrowed his mother’s car (pictured on the cover art) for longer than she expected.

The next two tracks, “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” and “Backstreet Freestyle”, are juvenile expressions of freedom that are pretty light hearted in comparison to the other songs. These are the depictions of teenage debauchery told through the lens of the kids having fun. Here we are introduced to the voices of the hero’s friends.

The mood changes with the next track, “The Art of Peer Pressure”, which depicts how boys just being boys can quickly turn sour and the effect that those around you have on your personality. Kendrick captures that feeling in the line, “it’s ironic ‘cause I’ve never been violent, until I’m with the homies”. At the end of the song, the narrator and his friends evade capture by the police and are discussing their plans for the remainder of the night. One of his friends mentions Kendrick wanting to go see Sherane which lets us know that chronologically this track comes before “Sherane a.k.a. Master Splinter’s Daughter”.

Since Kendrick is now feeling good about having escaped from the cops, the next two songs take a turn for the better. On the surface, “Money Trees” is just braggadocios but there is a deeper content behind this melodic and lyrically-impressive tune, which features Jay Rock (a member of Kendrick Lamar’s rap-crew). Sonically, “Poetic Justice” is similar to “Money Trees”, although it is slower and jazzier. Its romantic content and feature from Drake make this an instant nominee for a single.

The following two tracks are “good kid” and “m.A.A.d city” which together make up the title for the album. Likewise, the content of these two songs put together encapsulates the entire theme of the album. “good kid” is decent, but could have done with a better hook. On the other hand, “m.A.A.d city” is the most ear-commanding track on the whole album with its content, Kendrick’s pure skill, and the blaring beat which switches midway. The hook is made all the more better by an ad-lib that fans of Black Hippy will recognize as being done by rapper Schoolboy Q.

“Swimming Pools (Drank)” is the first song most people heard from the album. Although it is technically the second single, the first single (“The Recipe”) is not on the original packaging of the album and was not as popular. The song is about drinking alcohol and partying but it has a similar context to “The Art of Peer Pressure” in that it takes a negative look at it (done in such a subtle way that many people still play this as a party song).

This is followed by the 12-minute long “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst” which is really more like two songs (“Sing About Me” and “Dying of Thirst”) that blend together. “Sing About Me” features Kendrick rapping through the eyes of other personas, inspired by people from his hometown. “Dying of Thirst” employs prayer and adds sort of commentary to the previous stories.

From conversations I’ve had and comments that I’ve seen online, I’ve noticed that the next track is the most grossly overlooked track of the whole album. Perhaps because of its slower beat and repetitive nature, listeners have failed to grasp how central “Real” is to the theme of the album. For first time listeners and those that may have missed it the first time, make sure to really immerse yourself in this song, it’s a beautiful piece.  Personally, I think it should have been the final song as “Compton” is a bit disappointing in relation to the rest of the album (but it had to be there because it features Dr. Dre).

Overall, good kid, m.A.A.d city is a near flawless effort that further cements Kendrick Lamar as a rapper that we need to continue to look out for. It has the thematic wholeness that “Section.80” lacked while retaining the things that made fans love it.